Stan Lee Remembered Brooklyn Style

CROWN HEIGHTS — For some Brooklynites, the only way to memorialize the Marvel Comics icon, Stan Lee, was with a vigil, a short eulogy and a shot of Maker’s Mark.

More than a dozen comic buffs came out to Anyone Comics Monday night to commemorate the passing of Lee, who died Monday morning. At the entrance, lit candles illuminated a chalk drawing of the legend. After a brief eulogy, the group threw back 30 ml plastic cups of whiskey.

Lee served as top writer, president, and publisher at Marvel Comics. The 95-year-old co-created Marvel superheroes Spider-Man, Black Panther, The Incredible Hulk and a host of other comic book juggernauts.

“His characters were so much more relatable,” said Dimitrios Fragiskatos who co-owns the comic book store. During the eulogy, the shop owner explained how Lee shaped strong characters from a group of misfits like X-Men.

The shop owner said there wasn’t a huge spike in comic book sales. But the year-and-a-half-old business received lots of telephone calls from people looking to share Marvel stories.

Fragiskatos said many of the calls came from his Queens customers — the birthplace of his favorite Marvel character, Spider-Man.

Newby, Aiesheh De Los Santos learned about the memorial on Facebook and dropped in for the 9:00 p.m. salute. Even as a novice, De Los Santos, 24, rattled off a fun fact about Lee serving in the Army and dying the day after Veterans Day. His official Twitter account posted a photo of a young Lee during WWII.

Some people mourned the occasion in all black.

Peter Calderon who dressed as his favorite Marvel character during the Stan Lee memorial at Anyone Comics in Crown Heights

Peter Calderone, who has lived in Crown Heights for four years came in full Spider-Man garb. For him, the day was “painful,” so the homage to Lee was a treat for the 39-year.

“It’s all about the fight against bad and evil,” he said to describe what the day meant to him.